Organ Scholarships

The parishes of Henham, Elsenham and Ugley are offering organ scholarships for candidates with some skill on the piano who want to play the church organ.

There will be free organ lessons given by Dr Maxine Mott and free practice sessions for successful candidates.
Apply before Monday 27 April 2026 using the google form below.

Candidates must be old enough to reach all parts of the instrument, especially the pedals: probably from about age 14 upwards, and including adults. They should have passed at least Grade 4 piano, ABRSM preferred. Candidates without this qualification who are of a suitable standard may bring a letter from their piano teacher to confirm this. Candidates who have some prior experience of playing the organ are welcome.

Organs: Each of the three churches has an organ. St Peter’s, Ugley, is the smallest church with the smallest organ. It is a tracker organ dating from the 1840s, when it was first in use in Newport church, removed to Ugley in 1875. It has one manual and pedals with six stops, a coupler to the manual, and a swell pedal. It is a perfect instrument to begin on, and auditions will take place at St Peter’s. St Mary’s, Elsenham, is a larger church and has a larger organ. It was installed about 12 years ago and is an Allen electronic organ. Pictures and specification are available on the Allen website. St Mary’s, Henham, is the largest church and it has a fairly new Thirlmere electronic organ from Makins. Pictures and specification are available on the Makins website.

Teacher: All lessons will be given by Dr Maxine Mott MA (Cantab) ARCM PhD (Birmingham) BA (Open University), who has 35 years of experience teaching piano and organ in the local area. As well as the central study of the organ and its repertoire, there will also be a focus on church music for services.

Lessons will be arranged for after school or Saturday mornings and will take place in St Peter’s, Ugley, at first. We will move to the other churches as more experience with other organs is indicated. There will normally be six lessons in each half term, beginning with June 2026. Any scholars who are taking public exams in June-July may wait until the end of their exams before they begin lessons; it may be possible to fit a few into the summer holidays to make up. Lessons will normally be 40 minutes, though this may be curtailed in specially low winter temperatures. There will be heating beside the organ in the churches during the winter, but we cannot heat the whole building.

Practice sessions will be organised to suit the scholar’s own timetable, probably after school or on Saturday mornings. Weekdays are also available. Although the scholar practising will be alone in the church, it will still be important to let Dr Mott know if you are unable to attend for your practice session, to avoid unnecessary journeys to unlock and lock the church.

Music and other necessities: Scholars will provide their own music: our course book will be The New Oxford Organ Method, by Anne Marsden Thomas and Frederick Stocken, published by OUP. This is available from the usual outlets. Scholars will also need a music manuscript book and a plain A5 notebook for their lessons; they may also need organ shoes, and we will consider that at their first lesson. It is likely that some extra music will be available on loan from Dr Mott, but this must all be returned when finished with.

Auditions will be held during May 2026. Applicants will be contacted in early May to hear whether they have been chosen to attend an audition. Those coming to auditions should bring the certificate or marksheet as evidence of their grade in piano, or a letter from their piano teacher to confirm the same. They should also bring a short piece of music for hands alone which they are prepared to play on the organ. (It is probably best to look at Baroque pieces for this.) There will also be sight reading, aural tests and musicianship questions, and a conversation about their musical experiences so far.

Safeguarding: The Church of England allows individual music lessons to take place in churches with the signed approval of the parents of under-18s. As well as this, Dr Mott welcomes parents to sit in the nave for any or all lessons, as well as for the audition.

The Organ Scholarships will be awarded in the first instance for one year, June 2026 – May 2027, with the opportunity to continue for a second and a third year if sufficient progress has been shown.